January. And the first 2026 gathering of the monthly San Francisco Ocean Beach car lovers. Vintage Chrysler Imperial. About a cityblock long, and only 2 doors. Artwork reflecting the 1949 heritage of this car You never know what will roll into these gatherings. Here's a classic Rolls Royce convertible. Early 1960's Ford Falcon. Tribute vehicle, or actual restored vintage race car? Under the hood of a classic mid-1960's Pontiac GTO. The first American muscle car? Modified cla

Every holiday season, I try to visit the major SF hotels and landmarks to check out the festive decorations. Here are some photos from Christmas 2025. Entrance to the courtyard (glass-enclosed these days) of the Palace Hotel on Market Street. Somebody at the Palace Hotel likes polar bears. This is near the check-in desk. The Fairmont Hotel atop Nob Hill. Still my favorite. That's legendary local crooner Tony Bennett immortalized out front. They added a temporary bar in the lo

The monthly car gathering at Ocean Beach: Sunday, November 23rd. Fun ride, fun paint job. It was a pretty good turnout, with a number of rides I hadn't seen before. The blue SUV had accidentally backed, slowly, into the classic Chevy Nova. Luckily the Nova owner was not armed. It's getting cooler, so they crocheted a sweater for the greyhound hood ornament! Happy Holidays! San Francisco Ocean Beach, the organizing group. This Dodge Dart Swinger reminds me of my mom. For years

Discarded panhandling sign on my block at work. It apparently didn't test well. We ran out of picture hooks at work, so we take turns holding the wall clock. After a storm in my neighborhood. My recent root canal came with a view. (The Medical Building, 450 Sutter, 26th Floor) Lincoln Park golf course. Built on top of a Gold Rush era cemetery. The twin sphinxes are being renovated. But they left air holes for the big cats. A current exhibit at the de Young. I ran into the Inv

A new exhibit at the de Young. I went on a Saturday at 4:00 pm, and it was crowded. The security guard said it had been that way all day. It seems the museum was expecting the demand, because it is an extensive exhibit with lots of pieces, and a wider range of gift store offerings than usual. I'll have to go back at a less crowded time...

A wildly diverse annual gathering of car lovers in Golden Gate Park. And for once, the weather was diverse in the outer Avenues too: sunshine . Nice to see a young person enjoying an old classic. This is a 1957 Ford Thunderbird. Back when there was plenty of room in the backseat of a police car. The one in the middle is a Plymouth Roadrunner. License plate reads "Acme Mfg":) Never a shortage of Mustangs at a car show. This one looks set up to race... When I was growing up in

"The story of their relationship has often been told through Manet's early portraits of Morisot, with Morisot's own work treated as an offshoot of Manet's. Recent scholarship reveals that by the final years of his life, Manet increasingly followed Morisot's example -- her choice of subjects and colors, and even her rapid, fluttering brushstrokes. Rich in new research, the exhibition recasts this celebrated artistic friendship -- and by extension, the story of modern art -- in

Just things I found interesting enough to point my phone camera at in recent weeks. They rotate public art installations on the...

It was the 5th Anniversary of San Francisco Ocean Beach monthly hot rod gatherings. This is a very eclectic, chill group of gearheads....

I tried a new city job with the Department of Building Inspection; it didn't work out. So now I'm back in my double-wide cubicle at Human...

Michelangelo knocked out his iconic frescoe painting of the ceiling in the Sistine Chapel in four years (1508-1512), working 18 hours a...

"Mildred Howard's 'Untold Histories/Hidden Truths' drapes statues of Peter Burnett, William Gwin, and Francis Scott Key in striking red...

Father's Day at the monthly SFOB car gathering, Great Highway & Lincoln Blvd. Every 3rd Sunday of the month, 7am-11am. Another...

The long-running, beloved annual fundraiser hosted by the SF fine arts museums. In recent years it's been exclusively at the de Young....

America loves winning -- and completely ignores failing. That's why it took a Swedish psychologist, Doctor Samuel West, to come up with...

17th hole at Lincoln Park golf course, it surrounds the Legion of Honor fine arts museum. Powell Street cable car turnaround. Car #24, go...

I wasn't familiar with Wayne Thiebaud. But I found his philosophy interesting. If I understood correctly, it wasn't enough for him to...

This lonely relic from the past, a landline payphone, was seen in the Powell Street Station. Not bad for being completely man-made. In...

The future meets the past, at the monthly Ocean Beach meeting of car nation. Spring has sprung at Stow Lake/Blue Heron Lake in Golden...

The USS Hornet (CV-12), a WWII-era Essex-class aircraft carrier, is a floating museum docked in Alameda. It's only a 20-minute boat ride...